Finding Time to Write!

The voice on the phone was tinged with desperation and confusion. The question was sincere and very simple: how do I get back my “flow” how do I regain the ability to write regularly and with power? The writer had attended a weeklong writing workshop where her novel was praised as compelling and skillful. Buoyed by the response to her writing she returned home but found that within a few weeks she had “lost” the ability to keep writing, that the inspiration that had carried her through the uncharted waters of the first 100 pages was now gone, faded, a distant memory she could no longer conjure or even remember.  Her 9-5 and the demands of her life as wife and mother now seemed to have colonized all the time she once had used to write. The story was in her heart, filled her mind, but suddenly she just wasn’t’ “feeling” the story and now couldn’t find the time to write and felt guilty and depressed.

Another writer I know has a strong, marketable idea for a memoir which she has begun writing in several of my workshops. Whenever she tells anyone about the story she is writing they encourage her to keep writing and are so seduced by the story, they tell her they want to be the first person to pre-order the book. But having left a lucrative job in the corporate world to write full time she now spends five hours a day writing a blog for a popular website. The money from the blogging helps with the rent and she explained to me “gives me discipline and the ability to write to meet a deadline.” She now spends more time blogging than writing a book that she could probably get a contract for with 75-100 really well written pages.  She’s not writing, though she wants to and she doesn’t quite know why.

Both writers are talented and dedicated, but after an initial burst of creativity have found that they aren’t writing “the way they used to.” Quiet as it’s kept the three things that keep a writer going are 1. A hunger /need to tell the story. The difference between writers who get published and those who don’t is that writers who are either published by a company or publish themselves (increasingly a viable option) have simply been possessed by a story that won’t let them go. NOT writing isn’t an option. Life is not meaningful or real or complete until the story is told. Writing the story is one of the most important endeavors woven into the fabric of the writer’s life. 2. Focus. Productive writers know that writing is 98% perspiration and 2% inspiration. Productive writers honor the process of writing whether they “feel” like it or not. Productive writers know that the ability to zero in on/focus on their story even for small amount of time on a consistent regular basis is how the story gets written. 3. Discipline. Saying no to an extra half hour of sleep so you can write before you go to work.  Sitting before the computer screen writing instead of watching The Good Wife. Writing in order to discover what the writing will reveal rather than assuming that you have to know the end even before you have begun. These are all disparate and necessary aspects of the discipline that keep a writer writing. With 24 hours in each day, why isn’t that enough time for a writer supposedly “on fire” to find some time to write?

When you hit a blank wall, a period in which you feel that you can’t write although you want to I have found that you may need to take some time to percolate your ideas, take a breather, a time out; but more often you may need to simply adjust your writing schedule to the realities of the life you live. Being adaptable and flexible is crucial to the life of the productive writer. I have written regularly and consistently while going through a divorce, while nursing my husband through cancer, when every “plan” I made went awry. And the writing kept me feeling creative and grounded through all the madness and challenges and disappointments and change.  It’s not for nothing that writers say again and again that the writing saves their lives.

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The Winners Are….

Winners of the essay contest “The Book That Changed My Life” are:

Shanna L. Smith of Laurel, MD for her essay on Sally Hemmings by Barbara Chase-Riboud

Devin D. Moss of New York, NY for his essay on What Becomes of the Brokenhearted by E. Lynn Harris

Khadija Ali-Coleman of Fort Washington, MD for her essay on Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blum

Winners received an autographed copy of The WORD

The Word: Black Writers Talk About the Transformative Power of Reading and Writing Edited by Marita Golden

In these candid interviews, best selling authors and writers picked by the Oprah bookclub discuss how the acts of reading and writing have deeply affected their lives.

Order Your Copy Today!

Do you need a second opinion on the story you are writing?

Are you ready to submit your manuscript to an agent?

Do you keep getting rejections from agents?

Let Marita Golden award-winning veteran writer, teacher of writing and literary mentor to scores of writers provide you with a second opinion that will allow you to make a real breakthrough in your writing.

Veteran writer, teacher of writing and literary coach Marita Golden has worked with hundreds of writers as they develop their book-length manuscripts. As an acclaimed writer of both fiction and nonfiction she brings an experienced eye to assessing the strengths of a narrative as well as a talent for helping writers create powerful characters and unforgettable stories.

“Marita provided insightful comments to make my characters more compelling and strengthen the overall structure of my novel. She gave me the skills to use, whatever my writing project.”

~ Jeffrey Colvin, MFA Columbia

Assistant Editor Narrative Magazine

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The individual manuscript evaluation designed for you will provide:

• A close reading of your manuscript
• A written evaluation of the clarity of writing style, continuity of themes and overall effectiveness of the narrative
• For fiction writers the evaluation will also include an analysis of the effectiveness of scenes pacing and dialogue.

Marita will in her written assessment include suggested writing exercises for improving the quality and power of the writing.

A follow-up conference call can be arranged to discuss the written evaluation.

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Ask Marita! Part II – A Free Tele-seminar for Writers

Due to the overwhelming positive responses I received from my first Ask Marita! tele-seminar I am offering a second no-cost tele-seminar on Thursday, September 16th at 8pm(EST). I hope you will be available to listen and get answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about writing and the writing life.

This information-packed call will be based on questions submitted by participants and will allow you to have YOUR most pressing writing questions answered.

While I will answer general questions that you submit about writing, I will focus extensively on the six questions you must ask a literary agent. Even if you aren’t ready to look for an agent, this thiry minute tele-seminar will broaden your sense of the role an agent can and should play in your life. I look forward to answering your questions.

Even if you don’t have a questions, you can still listen in. Remember it’s free.

To register for the tele-seminar and submit your question please click on the link below.

Register Now!

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I Want to Write! – A 2-Day Writing Retreat

If you are having difficulty getting your words from your head and heart onto the page then this is the workshop for you. This workshop is for writers of any genre: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or journalism. This workshop will:

- guide you through writer’s block
- help you complete projects you began

This popular 2-day workshop has helped hundreds of writers get un-blocked and take the leap into their story and start writing. Beginning and veteran writers create a supportive community and learn techniques to write through fear, anxiety and self-censorship.

Schedule

~Saturday, September 25, 2010

~Sunday, September 26, 2010

Location: Washington, DC

Tuition: $299

Alumni Tuition: $270

Apply Today!

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